Colorado Science Museums

This is a rather extensive list of nature/science museums in Colorado. I include the location for each as they can serve not only as a resource for you as a teacher, but as a way to bring realia into science classrooms, or rather, bring students to the realia. This gives you the opportunity to explore different types and prices of museums to find what may work best for your class.

Name and Link of Museum	Location	Hands-on	Main Topics	Highlights
The John McConnell Math and Science Center -	Grand Junction	yes	very diverse	small, exploratory
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science http://www.walkingmountains.org/	Denver	no	diverse	huge, thorough
Dinosaur National Monument	Dinosaur	yes	geology, paleontology, nature	out-doors
Dinosaur Ridge	Morrison	yes	geology, paleontology	out-doors
Dinosaur Journey	Fruita	yes	paleontology	animatronic dinos!
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument	Florissant	yes	paleontology, geology	out-doors
Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center	Colorado Spgs.	yes	geology, nature	out-doors
The Butterfly Pavilion	Westminster	yes	biology, insects	tropical and native insects
Moraine Park Museum and Amphitheater	Estes Park	yes	biology, nature	out-doors
Morrison Natural History Museum	Morrison	yes	paleontology	small, friendly
Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center	Woodland Park	yes	paleontology	live lab
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History	Boulder	no	rotating, check for current	local focus
Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum	Golden	no	geology, mineralogy	rock ID, moon rock!
Durango Discovery Museum	Durango	yes	diverse, STEM	STEM focus for all ages
Space Foundation Discovery Center	Colorado Spgs.	some	space	applied science
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery	Fort Collins	some	diverse	local and standards aware
The Wildlife Experience Museum	Denver	some	biomes, rotating displays	local focus
Colorado Gators Farm	Mosca (near Alamosa)	no	biology	alligators!
Downtown Aquarium	Denver	no	biomes, biology, fish	underwater life up close
The Wild Animal Sanctuary	Keensburg (NE of Denver)	no	large carnivore sanctuary	huge cats
Garbage Garage Education Center	Fort Collins	no	recycling/trash	trash
Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center	Divide (near Florissant)	no	biology/wolves	real live wolves
Pueblo Zoo	Pueblo	no	biology	standards directed lessons
CSU Environmental Learning Center	Fort Collins	yes	biology, nature	outdoor lessons
Denver Zoo	Denver	no	biology	active and in person
Walking Mountains Science Center	Avon	yes	biology, nature	hiking, field science
Grand Valley Zoological Quest	Fruita	yes	biology, nature	standards oriented lessons